Simons Foundation
Mathematics and Physical Sciences
Simons Investigators in the Mathematical Modeling of Living Systems (MMLS)
*Request for Nominations*
On This Page
*$500K+ Limited program for Stanford assistant professors with PI eligibility within 8 years of the start of their first faculty appointment (as of Aug. 1, 2018). The intent of the program is to help launch the research careers of outstanding junior scientists who are engaged in mathematical model-based research in the life sciences. A university wide internal selection process is required because only two applicants are permitted.Note: these nominations do not have to remain confidential. See eligibility and purpose and rationale and scope below.
The 2017 internal deadline has passed. This webpage is for your reference only.
# of nominations permitted from Stanford: 2
Timeline
Dean of Research Office internal deadline: Wed. Aug, 16, 2017, 5 p.m.(see internal submission guidelines below)
The nominees selected will submit their nomination packets to their RPM/RMG or CGO/OSR by: Oct. 24, 2017
Nomination submitted to the foundation*: Oct. 31, 2017 via proposal central
(*to be submitted by the nominee's institutional representative-RPM/RMG or Contract and Grant Officer in OSR)
Appointments will begin August 1, 2018.
Guidelines: Download the PDF flle of the 2018 guidelines >> 
Note:
This RFP does not appear on the Simons Foundation's website.
- An investigator will receive $100,000 per year in research support for 5 years (up to 7 to be awarded)
- An additional $10,000 per year will be provided to the Investigator’s department.
- The award will be administered through the Investigator’s institution, which will receive an additional 20 percent per year in indirect costs.
- Appointment start date: Aug. 1, 2018
- At the time of appointment (as of Aug. 1, 2018), an Investigator should be in the early stages of an academic career (within eight years of the start of his/her first faculty position as an Assistant Professor with PI eligibility).
- To be an Simons Investigator in MMLS, a scientist must be engaged in research related to the program and must not previously have been a Simons Investigator.
- He/she must have a primary appointment as a faculty member at an educational institution in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, or Ireland on a campus within these countries, and the primary department affiliation must have a Ph.D. program.
- SLAC faculty eligibility: only SLAC faculty members (assistant professors with PI eligibility) with a primary faculty appointment in a department on campus that has a Ph.D. program are eligible.
- The foundation reserves the right to determine eligibility, but, generally, a “primary appointment” is defined as one where the Investigator is a full-time employee of an academic institution with a teaching load that is comparable to that of other faculty members in the same department.
- Investigators are not eligible to hold a Simons Fellowship or another Simons Investigator award for the duration of the Investigator award.
- See the rationale and scope below >>
Purpose:
The Simon Investigators Investigators in the Mathematical Modeling of Living Systems (MMLS) are outstanding scientists, often with mathematics or theoretical physics backgrounds but now engaged in mathematical model-based research in the life sciences who receive long-term support from the Simons Foundation. The intent of the program is to help launch the careers of outstanding junior scientists. Nominations will be evaluated on the basis of the nominee's potential for scientific accomplishment.
Rationale and scope:
New approaches in mathematically based modeling are making increasingly important contributions to the life sciences. The MMLS program aims to support such approaches and foster a scientific culture of theory-experiment collaborations similar to that prevailing in the physical sciences. To encourage young researchers to pursue this endeavor, the MMLS program will provide a long-term, stable base of support, enabling a focus on model-based approaches to important issues in the life sciences.
A broad spectrum of research areas within the life sciences will be considered, ranging from cellular-level issues of organization, regulation, signaling and morphogenic dynamics to the properties of organisms and ecology, as well as neuroscience and evolution; however, preference will be given to areas in which modeling approaches are less established and, for this reason, bioinformatics- and genomics-related proposals fall outside the scope of the program. In all cases, preference will be given to work that relates closely to experiment, developing mathematical models that can explain data, suggest new classes of experiments and introduce important, new concepts.
INTERNAL SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
By Wed., Aug. 16, 2017, 5 p.m.,, please submit one PDF file containing the following in the order listed below to:
Jeanne Heschele
Limited Submission Program Coordinator
Dean of Research Office
650-245-2351
jheschele@stanford.edu
File name: Last name_Simons_Investigator_MMLS.pdf
Institutional representative: you do not have to submit your internal proposals to your RPM/RMG or your CGO in OSR for their approval. You can submit them directly to Jeanne.
1) Title Page
Simons Investigators in the Mathematical Modeling of Living Systems (MMLS)
PI name, title, department, address, phone, email address
2) A research statement-limited to 2 pages prepared by the nominee that outlines the nominee's research vision and plans.
(Two-page limit; references and figures do not need to be included in the page limit but should not exceed an additional page.)
Format: single-spaced in typeface no smaller than 10-point font. Margins in all directions, must be at least 1/2 inch.
2) Nomination letter (two page limit*)--from your department chair addressed to the Dean of Research Office limited program internal review committee on department letterhead, explaining the distinctive scientific contributions of the nominee and including discussion of a few important papers.
*this two-page limit is based on the sponsor's guidelines
3) The nominee’s curriculum vitae, including email address, Ph.D. year, institution, advisor, postdoctoral institutions and advisors, positions held subsequent to award of doctorate and the nominee’s up-to-date publication list.
4) The nominee’s current and pending research support (include sponsor name, term, amount of funding)
Selection Process
Your internal proposals will be reviewed by the Dean of Research Office internal review committee. That committee will select the two nominees who will represent the university.
